


december 2nd: quiet in the night

by watergator



Series: december fic advent 2020 [2]
Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:40:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27840883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watergator/pseuds/watergator
Summary: prompt: hair braidingdani wakes from a bad dream, but jamie is there to remind her that that's all it is: a bad dream
Relationships: Dani Clayton/Jamie
Series: december fic advent 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2035978
Comments: 2
Kudos: 47





	december 2nd: quiet in the night

Dani is dreaming about something. It’s hazy and blurry and for a small moment everything feels like it’s underwater; muffled and unclear. She tries to reach an arm out but the air around her is thick and it’s a struggle to move. She frowns, noticing a shadow somewhere in the depths of her mind, aware that she’s not awake but instead dreaming, yet she still isn’t sure if she needs to wake up just yet. 

The dream is still blurry around the edges, becoming more unclear like a fading memory, her heart beats in her chest like she can really feel it there under her skin, only making her more anxious that maybe it’s not a dream after all. 

The shadow gets bigger and closer and her heart just pounds under her ribs harder and faster. 

Her mouth is dry and her palms are sweaty and she’s squeezing her eyes tight to wake herself up when she feels something crawl against her head, like a spider and she jerks herself awake with a sharp gasp.

The room is dark and quiet and all she can hear is her own heartbeat throbbing at the sides of her skull. She groans but feels a tickle at the back of her neck, making her body go lax at the touch.

A gentle voice whispers to her.

“Shh. Stop fussing. I’m just braiding your hair.”

Jamie’s thick, familiar accent is enough to get her body to melt into the touch. There’s no spiders on her head. There’s no water pulling her down and when he opens her eyes fully, there’s no shadows closing in on her.

“Bad dream,” Dani croaks and Jamie cops, pulling her a little closer onto her lap. She’s not sure when she fell asleep on the couch but her knees ache a little and her back feels sore.

“Just a dream though, eh?” Jamie reassures her and Dani hums. 

Just a dream, but sometimes dreams touch too close to reality.

She shifts, the hand in her hair slips away as she turns her body to look up at the girl looking at her through the dark.

They hold each other’s gaze for a moment before Jamie frowns.

“Just a dream though…” she repeats, a little slower. “Right?”

Dani swallows thickly. It  _ was  _ just a dream – that she’s becoming more sure of as it starts to ebb away in the corners of her mind; reality coming into a much clearer focus.

But it’s hard sometimes to gage that line, so carelessly drawn between what was real and what wasn’t.

Dani sucks in a shaky breath and exhales, a wobbly smile finding her lips.

“Yeah,” he whispers, voice feeling a little more sure of itself. “It was.”

Jamie smiles back, a hand comes up to touch and run through the loose braid that’s falling apart down her back and Dani smiles to herself as she settles back in, ready to be pampered just a little bit more.

“You’re making dinner though,” Jamie tells her as she gets to work once again and Dani shuts her eyes with a relaxed smile.

A little while later there’s a wonky braid in her hair (in Jamie’s defence she’s not got much practice with her own hair being far too short for such styles) and Dani is tucked away at the kitchen, cooking pasta as sauce splashes at the stove.

A warm body presses up against hers, arms wrapped around her waist and the braid falling down her back is pushed over her shoulder as Jamie rests her face right between her shoulder blades, fitting perfectly like they were just  _ made  _ for each other.

“Smells good,” Jamie murmurs, not yet letting go and Dani hums in agreement. 

“That’s because  _ I’m _ cooking it,” she teases and Jamie just scoffs in retaliation.

“You take  _ one  _ bloomin’ cooking class from Owen and you think you’re bloody Michelin Star quality, you.”

Dani laughs, turning down the heat as she turns around still in the warm embrace, giggling at the pouty face that looks up at her.

“Maybe I am,” she cocks her hair, reaching up to brush a stray curl off her face and behind her ear.

Jamie hums. “Maybe. We’ll see.”

Dani giggles, turning back around when she hears the sauce bubbling away and Jamie finally peels herself away from her, heading towards the cupboard where they keep their bowls.

And as she scoops their dinner to the very brim with piping hot pasta and pours them both a small glass of wine each, curled up on the sofa together as they watch whatever rubbish is playing on TV, the dream from earlier slowly disappears from Dani’s mind, and instead, all she can focus on as Jamie digs her toes into her thigh as she lounges over her legs like a cat, is how much better reality really is. 

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi on tumblr !! @watergator


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